From the journal of Tyler Marlocke

Recent Entries

As they exist from the narrow door of the linen closet for his apartment, Dinah will see two doors down the hallway to her left. One has a biohazard sign hanging from it, and the other is part-way open, enough that one can see the window and bed inside. There's a couple of photos hanging from the wall, one of Beauford and a blonde young woman laughing with the lights of a carnival in the twilight background, and one with Beauford and a reddish-brown haired man in a repurposed tan flightsuit, grinning in front of a college graduation ceremony.

To her right, she'll see that Beauford was infact not exaggerating at all about the shoebox size of his apartment's kitchen, as there is only a tiny island seperating it from the small living room. There's a well-used black futon and coffee table with a little black laptop on top of magazines and comic books. Against the wall there's a shelf with a flatscreen tv, several videogame consoles and a dvd/bluray player. Light filters through the curtain outside and Dinah can likely see the door out of the apartment with three bicycles hanging from hooks beside it on the wall, and pannier bags for the bikes hung with coats and hats from the coat rack.

It doesn't take much guessing to figure out that the blue and gunmetal bike is Beauford's from the homemade welds and adjustments given to it.

"Welcome to my humble bachelor pad...I'd give you the tour but this is pretty much it."

These days, sneaking out after school involved less of just walking to the house that the Revenant had rented out and cleaned. It involved more of making sure that Ultima and Supreme Powers were taking Absolute Powers, aka Toby, somewhere to practice flying with his powers. That didn't involve having to explain WHY the stoplight was suddenly a stage magician sending scarves out everywhere. Then making sure that Cecil was occupied, though it didn't matter so mucn now that he was in on the secret with the Revenant. Tyler really, really wanted him to knock off with the asking to become Tyler's supervisor while having a conversation.

And using the medallion to sneak himself to a completely different spot, namely a certain little homemade fort in a ravine so he could pull out the communicator to talk.

-"Revenant, am I coming in clear?"-

-"Loud and,"- answered the voice from the other end, -"although business is a little hectic just at the moment."-

There was a thump and a crash, and something that could've been a gurgle if it weren't just static.

-"I've got a little time, though. What's up?"-

This was one of those times when Tyler almost felt guilty for calling on the emergency line. --"You didn't pick me up from school, like usual. In fact you haven't done it for the past month and a half."- Tyler answered, checking outside of the little fort for any signs of anyone snooping nearby. "I can understand for the first few weeks..like when the school was getting rebuilt and I was walking around in a clone puppet."-

-"So what's going on?"-

-"Field operation, I'm afraid." The voice had the dignity to sound chagrined. "Starting with an extended stakeout that more or less required radio silence."-

Something in the background cracked sharply. There was a pained grunt.

-"I think that part of the operation's been fairly well wrapped by now. My appointment book for the summer is pretty wide open. How does yours look?"-

-"...mom and dad.."- The rest got a little muffled, but Tyler did manage to lift his head and mouth out of the crook of his elbow. -",sharing a room with Toby at their new Headquarters."-

-"Well. That sounds like you've got plenty of time for a summer reading program. Or a foreign language camp. Possibly both,"- said the voice cheerfully. -"How do you feel about Japanese?"-

-"...can't be any harder than learning how to speak Wolf."- Tyler replied, taking notes. There'd be books at the empty house for him to pick up later in regards to that. -"What about physical training?"-

-""Aikido or isshin kenpo?"-

-"...Kenpo, Aikido is the one that's all grips, pins and holds, right?"-

-"And throws. Isshin kenpo's a hybrid karate form. Very recently developed, but I know the originators personally and I can vouch for their lineages in the Okinawan fighting arts."-

-"Alright, so how're we going to keep this from my parents, and Toby?"-

-"I'm sure your other two friends in on the conpiracy will cover for you with your brother, and I'll be picking you up and dropping you off from the house I'm renting."- There was some more whimpering from the other end of the line.

-"...you really think mom and dad won't check?"- Tyler asked apprehensively. -"Couldn't I just practice in Milliways? No one from school has showed up there, and it'd be a good place to practice acrobatics and tumbling."-

-"Can't get far in the Wind School of isshin kenpo if you don't know how to fall properly. Sometimes that involves falling from some very unusual places."-

-"Like buildings."- Tyler grumbled.

-"Well, I was thinking more like former utility towers, but yes, it's important to cover all the bases."-

-"...thanks, I wanted to know what was up...you know I was kind of wondering if you'd avoided cause of my parents being in town an-" He stopped short as something, or a rather a familiar sounding something whooshed overhead. "Gotta go. Looks like Toby finished his flying practice. Or it's getting too close to here."-

-"Sorry about that. A lead came up that just didn't give me enough time to get away. Don't worry, it's not going to happen again. Tell your brother I said hi."-

-"Pbbht."- Now he knew that Revenant was funning with him, Toby didn't know a darn thing about his secret identity. And Tyler was plenty willing to say or do whatever was needed to make sure it stayed that way. -"I'll wait for the mail to come at the house, or at Cecil's. Bye."-

There's a lot of things to do after school on most weekdays. Tyler suspected, that usually for most kids, it didn't involve sneaking around to check up on the newest student and get a measure of their abilities. And given what had happened with Alec's drawings at the soccer game last week, it wasn't any surprise to see him at PS238 getting lead around by Mrs. Kent, Alec's mom, Positron and Mr. Wooster.

After all, someone had to keep up the job of keeping an eye on the student body. It was clear that Mr. Clay's gear wasn't cutting it anymore, not after Zodon, Von Fogg and Angie had been stripping it for parts before with no one the wiser. He was even pretty certain that he'd been doing a good job of not being seen without using the medallion Garion had given him.

"Can I look around? This place is cool!" Alec was almost jumping around to look at everything and all the other kids moving about in costume.

"I don't see why not. A potential tour guide has been lurking in the shadows for some time now..."

Well, so much for having gotten better at sneaking around, if the butler had spotted him. Tyler emerged from behind the corner where he'd ducked into earlier.

"Tyler, if you could show Mr. Kent around the school, I'm sure there is a great deal to be learned..."

------------------------------

"Hey, Dr. Positron said that there was a teacher who could help me with my drawings.. Ms. Imperia?"

"...well, there WAS, I'll show you what I mean." Tyler jogged towards the office and opened up the door to the bricked up wall. "See, she hasn't been around since the attacks by those imps and cherubs started...We can't get through to her if she's there on the other side."

"Oh, so, that's a spell those guys talked about casting?"

"Yeah, anyways, let's keep moving on, I want to show you my room and my brother, who you kind of met..." Tyler was almost to his room before he stopped and turned around to find Alec wasn't there behind him. Backtracking...he found the door to Mr. Imperia's room still open...and one of Alec rune spriographs drawn onto the brick wall.

"Son of a biscuit."

---------------------------------------

One quick run to his room to pull on his Moon Shadow armor, cubefall helmet, and gear over his Power Ranger armor, and he was back at the door investigating the runes and markings Alec had left behind. It looked normal enough, and that why it worried him. As he stuck his hand into the portal, he was vaguely aware that he'd been spotted by Marvin, The Sleeper,

That was the last thing he heard before the portal yanked him inside and slammed the door behind him.

"Way to go Marvin, he doesn't like noisy fans, you scared him off."

-------------

He landed into a pile of chunks and coins of gold, with various gems, and it was quite possibly one of the weirdest landings yet. His armor didn't feel right, it felt chunky and it clinked and he had trouble seeing out of his helmet, because THAT wasn't a football helmet anymore, it had a thick slotted face guard instead of bars now.

..wait.

He smelled fireworks, sulfur burning.

There was just enough time to see the dragon behind him before it began to flame at him, and he was running away.

"Over here!"

That was Alec, hiding in one of the passages with a girl...come to think of it a fairly familiar looking... Oh he was going to just LOVE writing about today in his journal later.

----------------------------

From their hiding spot behind one of the suits of armor, Moon Shadow, Alec and a very young Vashti Imperia watched the adventuring party split up, leaving their henchman behind. A far too familiar group for Tyler's tastes, because he knew them. He had BEEN them. Kind of.

Milliways had found a new way to up the levels of weirdness for him and he wasn't even IN there, right now!

"They're gone, you can come out now." Nodwick called to the kids as he turned around, holding onto the chest for loot. "...you must be the little girl we were sent to rescue."

"I'll let you and your friends 'save' me, but not before I get that wicked witch's spellbook." Vashti replied, lifting her head just a tad haughtily.

"We're just kind of along for the ride." Alec shrugged, and Moon shadow approached the henchman.

"Nodwick, have you seen someone kind of like her, but a lot taller? Maybe with a tattoo over one eye?"

"That is a very interesting description." A familiar voice to Tyler spoke above them, before they were wrapped up in shadow and the young Vashti disappeared.

"This always happens when Yeagar has his "let's split up" idea..."

------------------------------

"...this has GOT to be worth at least one fun trip with Ray.." Moon Shadow thought as they swung out from one portal into another by his grappling line. His shoulders were going to HATE him tomorrow the way everyone was holding onto him before they tumbled out onto the hallway floor.

"See? I toldja they'd come in handy!" Alec crowed, getting up and jogging down the hallway.

"But how can all of this be REAL?!?" Moon Shadow asked Vashti the Elder. Especially Nodwick, of all the people to run into, he'd be the one he hallucinated BEING for the most horrible holidays EVER.

"This is an heroic age: magicians, warriors, mystic shamans are this era's 'superheroes.' Their powers created the world's magical beasts and wonders. When the age ends, their creations will slowly fade, until only stories remain." Vashti replied, with a wry if a little sad smile.

"Yes. But the one in the caverns can still eat us now." Ms. Imperia replied, ushering Alec along.

"So did you kidnap yourself?" Moon Shadow had to ask...chances were he'd come to this sort of issue in his own time. Heck, his life was so weird, the chances of it NOT happening were slim.

"I had to. When I was exiled here, I soon discovered where and when I was. I realized I was in the witch's castle I remembered from my youth, yet no one lived here but the dragon. I would have to take up the witch's role if my past self was to eventually become... well, me." She shrugged, walking onwards. "So I found the small farm I lived on as a child, did a very convincing act of cackling and scaring the livestock, and brought my younger self to the castle. I taught myself to control my budding magical talents. I also made a copy of my spell book for her to steal, which she should have done by now."

"So if you were born here, how did you get to our time?"

"Some of us knew this age of magic would end, and we wanted to see what came next. We used powerful spells to preserve us. A few left as new heroic times arose, but I waited for the final age, when humans would hold onto their strange powers for all time."

"Oh." He drew in a little bit at that, thinking. "Sorry to make you wait so long."

"I beg your pardon?"

"The treasure chamber is right over-uh oh."

There was just a glimpse of a scaly red mouth and the smell of sulfur before the dragon's jaws closed over all three of them at once. Or it tried to, Moon Shadow's boots weren't giving it the space needed to close it's jaws by it's molars, and he was pretty sure he felt that dangly thing in the back of the dragon's throat knocking on the back of his helmet lightly.

Moon Shadow, meanwhile saw something outside the dragon's jaws. The familiar rippling of one of Alec's magic portals on the wall there.

There. They could get out THERE.

He yanked off his grappler gauntlet and fired it at the spot in the wall. When he was sure it'd gone through and hit the wall, the jaws of the dragon opening wider and beginning to smell horribly of sulfur, he jammed the gauntlet onto one of the other teeth in the dragon's mouth.

"EVERYBODY HANG ON!"

The line went taut and everything was yanked forward into the portal, the dragon choking on it's own flammable gas for a moment in surprise. Everyone inside of the mouth were spat out against the other wall of the familiar hallway in PS238. He was vaguely aware of Vashti and Alec being alright to one side of him, but more aware of a sharply cheerful American Eagle asking permission to blow up the dragon from Cranston. What followed was a cheer going around the students as she began hammering the dragon with telekinetic claw-blasts.

Everyone was too busy blasting the dragon to bits to notice him yanking his grappling claw out of the wall and making off towards his own room and a very familiar portal that in the bathroom.

"In other news today, the police are warning citizens that there have been a rash of house-break ins and robberies. Please be advised to keep your windows and doors locked when you leave and when you are in your house. Events have been reported ranging from all over the city..."

----

"Hey Tidy! You got a request pick up over on 36th!"

"What's the package?" 'Tyson' hefted his bike over one shoulder and a messenger bag over the other, jogging up to the dispatch kiosk.

"No saying, just that you're to get there to pick it up." Neal, the current shift and dispatch supervisor shrugged, Tidy Tyson always had to ask who he was going to and from sometimes. He just chalked it up to the guy wanting to keep his nose clean. Some outfits for couriers ended up with some damn shady characters, and it wasn't always worth the extra scratch for the trouble. "They asked for you specifically. Guess you're making a name for yourself over in that part of town."

"Well, if a good name'll earn me some more good clean money...can't save enough, you know?"

"Hey, ain't you worried about your place, with all these break ins goin on?"

"Nah, I live in too poor a part of town, this Calgary Catburglar's only been hitting middle class places and upwards." Tyson snorted, reading over his other morning deliveries. "Sides that, my bike's the most expensive thing I own."

"...yeah about that..."

"What? I modified it."

"Most people don't modify a Schwinn B-9."

"....so? Look, all I did was fix up the chain on a busted model and made the front and rear crowns to hold a wider tire, and adjust the handlebars." Tyson gave Neal a look. "Nothing illegal, couple of the other guys've done it. Makes for tires that handle the snow and ice better."

"Whatever you say peaches. Don't be late with that sheet."

"Later Neal." Tyson was already out the door, swinging on a helmet and getting his bike down into the slush of the snow.

-----

"Also in the community news today, Martin Thadgradger, age 54, leader of the Veteran's Support Society, suffered from some sort of collapse in his home today. He is in the hospital at this time, as doctors are looking for a cause to his sudden breakdown. Friends and family members wishing for support can visit the.."

-----

"Mr. Reeves, you are impeccable with your timing and delivery as ever."

"Thank you sir," Tyson smiled and bowed with a slight semi-formal salute to the cleanly dressed man. "I hope to be of service to you in the future."

"Perhaps you will, I have friends who could always use your...unique talents in the future. In the meantime, have a good day, here is your tip."

"...Thank YOU sir,!" He exclaimed looking from the wad of 10's in Mr. Goldschtein's outstretched hand. "I'll remember this."

"Yes, I'm sure you will." The man smiled, closing the door and watching Tyson 'Tidy' Reeves as he got back onto his bike and made his way speedily down the street to his next assignment. "Well, your thoughts on him as a footsoldier?"

"...an improper place for someone with such obvious intelligence and devotion to the cause, but we'll see if he is true later. You're quite certain he's the burglar?"

"Quite. I had him studied for being a...lesser soldier, until I noticed an odd correlation between his delivery stops, and who was robbed. It's just speculation, but it is interesting."

"We'll see how he fares...would he strike us?"

"Never, too loyal to the party."

"Hrrm. We could use someone like him. Have him watched closely."

"Yes, sir."

Outside Tyson smiled, three blocks away as he recieved every word from the rapidly dissolving radio transmitter. There would be no trace that he had heard every word of that conversation...at all.

It's 5:45 in the back area behind the lake, and Tyler's already waiting by the backdoor, with his Cubefall helmet, and full Power Ranger armor on for the training. He's having some fun of it outside, as the cold is just enough that he can blow out a little smoky cloud of steam waiting for Voodoo.

Winston meanwhile is grubbing around at his person's feet and looking out towards the woods before looking back up at Tyler. Are they going to go for their morning run or not?

Spending the better part of a year and a half getting morning PE runs from a Marine was probably something he should have mentioned earlier.

Today I had to explain my school to someone, Rachel, because she saw the metahuman biology textbook I was studying from. I kind of lied when I told it her was for homework, since studying more about the stuff going on around me is looking more and more like a good idea. Especially since Cecil detects metapowers in other people.

...that's not why I'm writing. I got a little sidetracked. Rachel...she got mad when she found out about what my parents have done. Like nearly biting off my HEAD mad. I think she didn't mean to cause when I ducked down she looked...kind of upset that she had yelled. And...and truth be told I was kind of upset too.

I can't change my parents, what they are, what they think. What I can do is arm myself, learn everything I can to defend myself.

I've been lucky, been irradiated, dropped, landed on, hugged to death and a bunch of other things, and so far nothing has given me superpowers.

...I don't think anything will. I'm not sure how or if I'm ever going to try talking to Mom or Dad about this. They'll probably shrug me off like they do when Toby tries asking them if he can not use his powers. He tries asking them since they're kind of powerproof and he tries asking me for help too...and

He paused, reading up over what he had just written.

I think Toby needs help thinking most of all. He's not used to doing it on his own. Some part of him remembers me doing all the thinking, and that isn't good for him. Mom and Dad can't do the thinking for him either.

He is a man of his word, and one more than capable of figuring out how to get people in and out of his world with little issue. That's why he and Dinah emerge from the third stall of the Unisex bathroom of the Seattle Public Library. It's clean, quiet, and most importantly of all, devoid of security cameras.

12th day in the Calgary. Thankfully, have been able to get job as a bike-courier for various packages. Amazing how nice things can be when you change your location frequently. Got decent deal in pawning off valuables to various shops, enough to pay for a place to stay, and buy a decent used bike. So nice to have a roof over my head and some privacy when I sleep. Not very secure, easy for someone to get in through the window here, so the 'jar of fat' is being kept somewhere else for now.

Have begun casing out a few places to try and refill the jar with, pickings look a bit slim but I think that there a few nests around here that I can steal a few eggs from. Will go exploring tomorrow.

He set down the pen and looked around the shabby little apartment which could have fit into his living room in Seattle. There was a bed, a sink, a bike in here, a small stove for cooking, the window to the fire escape and not much else save for his bag that had the basic essentials a man of this time period would need. Toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, 2 changes of regular clothes, one spare outfit, two pairs of Converse Jack Purcell sneakers, a heavier winter coat that had two special gloves hidden in the lining, along with a set of theives tools, his real audio journal thumbstick, and a very special pad of paper.

'Tyson 'Tidy' Reeves' sat back in his chair thinking, he'd sold himself as being a somewhat reliable bike courier...now he'd have to set himself up as a thief, not one who went for big scores at jewelery outlets, or the like, but one who did home invasions. This...this would not go over very well unless he let the big guy know first.

He drew the curtains shut, reached into his bag, removed the special pad of paper...and began to write. Maybe if the big guy of Canada would be watching the matching one like a hawk right now.

Red Panda

Tyson 'Tidy' Reeves

Report: Settled into Calgary, have cover as bike courier. Voice subtle National Socialist props at casual events, not at work. Working to build reputation as 'intelligent house-thief', most likely what the targets will be looking for, plan to keep track, pay back double what taken. Respond.

The words sank into the paper and disappeared. How long before there would be a response.

I am never going to forget how awesome this Christmas was with Ray, even if I did get tongue-grabbed by Krampus earlier this week. This totally more than makes up for being sick last 'year' in Milliways with that flu that made me hallucinate I was different people or a dragon.

Ms. Eartha Kitt stayed up with me for most of Christmas Eve last night before she shut down for the Sabbath, since Christmas Day fell on a Saturday this year, but we each got to open one present on Christmas Eve and I think she liked the dress Janine helped me pick out for her, cause she smiled and chuckled. A laughing golem is a weird thing apparently, I guess to most people. I should be a little more weirded out by this but...well. I think my weirdness meter had tanked out. For now. I opened the gift from Ray and it was a blue Batman hoodie.

Any ways! Got to have hot cocoa and sammiches for dinner, managed to stay up as late as 11 before Ray says I conked out. This morning was awesome! When I woke up I wasn't sleeping in the old cot Ray had set up for me, it was a regular wooden bed, with a mattress and sheets and a big thick quilt on top and it didn't have ANY cartoon mascots on it, which was so great. There was a note at the bottom of the bed in a big envelope. It was from President Amtatov Antonov, so I asked Ray to translate it but he was kind of busy going fishy-mouthed because of what was waiting in the kitchen and completely untouched by Slimer.

I'll transcribe the letter later, Ray read it and he just smiled and ruffled my hair before we dug into breakfast. THEN it was time for the other presents. Jhalak's gift won't arrive until tomorrow but she said she's okay with it. Winston got me a baseball mitt and ball, Egon got me a book about basic robot building and programming, Janine got me a couple of trade paperbacks of this comic called Sheldon, and Peter got me a couple of jokebooks but I think I'll be lending those out to the kids in Little Lamplight. Ecto made me a book about how to trade stones and metals at the Jewelery District so if I ever get paid in gems or precious metals I can go to the one here or the one in my world and do things right and not get ripped off.

No one was surprised that there was a little fortress of coal around Peck's fishbowl this morning.

Ohh, turns out the breakfast was part of the Christmas gift from President Antonov to the guys, it's an Enchanted Tablecloth, with 24 uses left in it. Throw it on a table, give it a half hour, and FOOD.

Venkman tried to make fun and steal some of my blue tentacles and pasta lunch. We had a silverware battle.

I won.

Ray and I are gonna spend the afternoon building BEAM robots, since he really liked the kit, book and the box of junk I picked up for him at the surplus store.

Oh and he mentioned something about me staying until January 6th. Wonder why.

There are certain joys to be had by being nearly ten and sleeping over at your uncle's place. Getting to sleep in with the black and gold cyber raptor curled up at his feet on top of the comforter in his cot at the Firehouse. Unfortunately this is the Firehouse, and there are a great many things which will wake a body up.

"Slimer!" Tyler shouted as the ghost stunk a slimy green finger into his ear, sitting up and swinging his pillow at the ghost.

"GizzrFUNT!!"

The local free-roaming vaporus appetite gibbers away as the cyber raptor growls awake and makes chase. He didn't really feel like going back to sleep at that point, seeing as the ghost and terror of pests were getting into a fine chase around the building, and from the smell of things someone was already up and making coffee. Tyler swung his head down to look under his cot at the charger for his gauntlet. Using up all of the shot on Krampus yesterday probably hadn't been the best plan, but at least the battery packs were rechargeable.

Slipping on the big old furry bear slippers that were a size too big for him, Tyler scurried into the kitchen, seeing the guys already up around the coffee maker. Venkman of course grinning at Tyler having to wipe out his ear of the ectoplasm.

"Hey kiddo, sleep well?"

"Pbbbbbht." That was all he had to say to Peter really. "Egon, is there anything in there for breakfast, or did Slimer get here before the sacrificial bowl of cereal was put out?"

"He's had his sacrificial bowl, I'll nuke up some instant oatmeal for you."

"So I hear you got a little tongue action the other day, sport..."

"....and you're not allowed to dump it on Peter's head."

"Hey!"

"He barely comes up past your navel, Peter."

"So?"

"I would advise strongly against taunting the kid who can go invisible, carries a taser gauntlet and whose only form of self defense is either a sword or boxing."

Tyler just snickered into his hand at that last comment. "Hey, do you guys know how I go about taking Winston down to the subway to take care of their rat problem? Do I need a permission slip or something?"

"I think you just go down and arrange an appointment with the station director or talk with them...why do you ask?" Peter smirked, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl.

"Winston."

"....oh yeah, little monster needs to eat."

"Yeah, and I bet you can't even name the last time anyone within five hundred feet of this place ever had a rat problem." Tyler replied to Peter, digging into the hot strawberry oatmeal before Slimer could get any funny ideas. "And no offense but buying those ones from a pet store is weird and I don't wanna glut him on his treats."

"Speaking of, is he trying to climb the garland to chase after Slimer?"

"Winston! NO! Get down from there!"

Breakfast, a change of clothes and a multi-voiced scolding from the alien later, Winston's straining at the end of his chain leash along the walk to the subway station and it's platform. Ray had mentioned something about the subway station near the firehouse having a rat problem, of course finding out who to ask about what he had to do for this. He figured asking the help/complaints desk was a good bet.

"S'cuse me, is this where I go to ask about rat hunting?"

"I'm sorry, but it's winter if the rats happened to-" The tired looking clerk looked up to see the boy standing at his counter.

"Mister, I'm not here to complain, someone told me I could earn some extra cash with rat hunting."

"Son," Oh that was an encouraging way to start, condescend to the kid. "But child labor laws."

"I'm not looking to work, Peter said you guys rent out terriers and other animals from trainers to hunt rats."

"Well not just any dog or cat can come they have to be trained.."

Oh screw a bunch of this, one surprised and chuffing cyber raptor was hoisting up to the glass of the window to growl.

"Holy SHIT where did you get a Mouser?"

"...a what? No, Winston's a living cyber raptor. Look, Uncle Ray said you guys had been having rat problems and that you'd pay by the rat."

"...yes, that's how it usually works." Beat. Then the clerk squinted at the boy and the gauntlet over one hand. "...you're that kid who was on the news yesterday. The one with the Ghostbusters."

"...Look am I going to ask this very nicely, what do you need us to do so we can hunt rats?"

Wasn't that hard, Winston'd run out to catch and eat some rats, and Tyler'd collect a half dollar per carcass that was brought back to his feet. 5 times out of 6 the black and gold terror would get out of the way before the subway train would come through the pit.

Of course it was those sixth times that were the ones that got some attention, and Winston DID tend to fly a good distance. It was just a matter of getting him to not try and chew the subway train a new one.

Which he usually gave up on after about five minutes of chewing the broad front end of before returning to Tyler's side for some jerky. And at fifty cents a rat he already had shacked up about $36 in the first hour there.

"That's enough for today...erm...sorry about the mess. He ate most of em."

"Is he always that.."

"Yeeah pretty much, but he should be full for a day or two, so I'll come back then with him if there're any more."

"We'll be waiting, that rat problem isn't going anywher- ...what is that smell??"

The next morning starts quietly enough, after all, some people just aren't early risers. But Beauford's guest will probably wake up to the smell of toaster waffles and nuked-precooked sausages for breakfast, as a full plate is being put in front of him, sometime about 11 am.

It probably doesn't help that Beauford's got an apologetic look on his face as he pushes the plate towards the sleepy demigod.

Tyler glanced back towards the source of the shouting. He paused only a second to listen as Kyle started whooping and cheering at the melted display case before trotting very carefully and focusing on Garion's medallion... He just had to hide his gear in his room for now.

After shoving it all into his empty comicbook box and burying that under two other boxes, Tyler let out a slow breath of relief. Toby wouldn't be out of his remedial classes for another ho-

"I TOLD YOU HE HAD SUPERPOWERS!" Emerald Gauntlet hollered from the door of his room, making Tyler jump back. "Told you! And Moon Shadow's going to be so awesome now that he's back from bein' dead!"

With that last jeer, the green-suited boy flew off down the hall, leaving Tyler alone in his room again.

"...some day-"

-pop!!-

"Tyler!" Toby appeared in the middle of their room, with a little burst of displaced air. Tyler sighed as the new notepad he'd asked for turned into a flowerpot and a toy whale. "Mom and Dad want us to eat with them in the tower tonight, so after class I gotta fly us both there, you can tell me more about Moon Shadow on the way, right?"

-pop!!-

Great, picking up the two squiggle-shaped items that had just a minute ago been a new notebook, Tyler sighed. Maybe it was for the best, he'd have to find better ways of hiding his Milliways and Moon Shadow notebooks away from Toby soon.

-knocknock-

"Tyler?" Julie...no she was 84 now, or both, knocked on the door peering inside. "That was a really neat story you gave about Moon Shadow in class today."

"Oh! Thanks," He started brightening up, at least one person had liked the story...

"Did you get to meet him?"

"...what?"

"Moon Shadow, did you get to meet him and talk with him during the invasion? That's why you got infected right?"

Something inside just dropped down into his sneakers. Great. Maybe he should just let them form a Moon Shadow fan club and be done with the whole pile of bantha puuduu.

84 must have caught the look on his face as she put her hand to her mouth. "Oh, oh I'm sorry...I forgot..you probably don't wanna talk about it." After fiddling with her gloves a bit she finally asked. "How're things settling in with Toby?"

"...they're okay," Tyler glanced up as the five minute warning bell started.

"Oops, I better get to class, I'll see you later Tyler!"

"Later 84!" He called after her quietly before shutting the door to his room.

After 20 seconds having made sure no one else was coming in to talk to him, he grabbed up his backpack with the training saber and pulled out the battered barcoaster keychain. Then he carefully pulled the comic longbox with his gear out from under the other two. Making his way to the bathroom in his room, Tyler focused very hard on the desperate urge to use the bathroom....

The door opens from the closet, into the living room of a rather modest corner apartment. A worn and well-used couch has been made up into a makeshift bed with pillows. The coffee table has a few comicbooks scattered over it's surface, along with the small TV and two video game systems. Two bikes lean against the wall and one can just see the island counter for the kitchen through the corner of their eye.

"Mi casa, it isn't much, but you can hang out for a few days." 'Beauford' says, edging around his temporary tenant. "Bathroom is right down here, and my room is right across from it."

And he couldn't go back to school and warn everyone...he had to handle this. That meant leaving Malphast and Cecil at the lake while running for the house, where he kept the gear stockpile.

While he couldn't be seen around the school grounds... Moon Shadow could.

----------------

Okay, going back to the school grounds to spy on Charles had been a BAD PLAN. A very bad one because now Kevin, Ron, Jennifer, Alejandro, and Julie...they were all going to come along to help 'fight' Charles. He didn't want to FIGHT he just wanted to STOP him...

For a girl who'd just come back from being a ghost, Ambriel was full of information about Charles. Now he had an address, Moon Shadow just had to try and keep all of the..other...superkids...in line.

It would've helped if he'd could have kept up.

----------------

The fight was over. He'd managed to find everyone from the places where Charles had teleported them and...augh. The helicopter. He wanted to kick someone's SHINS over that.

The news hadn't been good, even a good batch of ice cream didn't help that they were going to have to hold a funeral for Ambriel. He hadn't even gotten a chance to talk to Harold before the security for school came back online and started shuffling the resident students off to bed. Tyler lay in bed staring up to the bottom of the bunk above him in his dorm room, a sick pit in his stomach. What if he'd gotten here sooner with Harold? Would they've been able to help her?

It took him only a few minutes to fall asleep, even after all of the worries zipping around like pinballs inside of his head...

-----

He hadn't had that dream again during the night, but he still felt completely exhausted. Tyler barely made out the words about the memorial service that was going to be held today during the gym class for her... He got all of his things together, including the social studies homework he'd had to do for a second time and got ready for the transport service to take him a quarter of a mile from school to be dropped off by the 'bus'. The walk there in the morning wasn't so bad, just a short distance compared to the ground he'd been able to cover yesterday. He'd have to thank Corporal Shephard for the training sometime, when he wasn't so dog tired.

Coming up around the corner he nearly ran into the crazy kid from the fundamentalist family, screaming bloody murder and running right for the buses.

"IT'S THE RAPTURE! AN' I GOT LEFT BEHIND!! SOMEBODY HELP!!!"

When Tyler looked around that corner there was no one there...no signs of trouble... "What in the world?..."

The next thing he knew he was falling from way too high above the park's pond.

*GAG* *SPUTTER* "Ack!" Oh gross, he'd gotten duckweed up his nose swimming to the shore. Another kid, just as soaked looked down at him, trying to wring out his clothes.

"Hey."

"Uh...hey."

"You're the sixth one."

"The sixth one what?"

The other kid, still wringing out his jersey pointed to a group of four other kids, and from the looks of things, Jenny Adams aka the American Eagle, was among that group. Oh this was not good, not good on so many levels as the possibilities started making a very unhappy picture.

"We thought we'd wait to see if anyone else showed up and then walk back to school." The kid went on, wringing out a jersey sleeve. Squiish. "Y'know, so there's more of us telling the same weird story. I don't know if they'll believe us anyhow."

There was just enough space between the cars in the junkyard to see the Earth Defense League, all of them, including his parents, coming up to the decoy bus in the middle of the street. Then as the wings extended and the rockets in the back of the bus lit up for take off, he could barely hear what the Rainmaker kids were talking about into the disposable cellphone. As the rocketbus took off with a roar, the Earth Defense League contingent sped their pursuit, then fell off as they recieved the 'new information from the kidnapped children'. Moon Shadow was privately wondering how the heck butt to write this all up in his journal -- the fourth backup he kept in case his stuff was destroyed.

He was amazed that the plan actually worked, with all the other kids, even Cecil, following the instructions to the last letter. Especially the part where his parents seemed to be buying ... the excuse about the historical re-enactors rescuing the children and giving them swords.

And he wasn't thinking all that much about Angie until she started asking him questions.

Even better the new 'pirate swords' and extra space on the bus were definitely helping in keeping all the Rainmaker students happy. Vern had healed The Revenant, but not without the vigilante passing out from the pain of meta-accelerated healing forcing itself over natural healing already in progress. Ty- Moon Shadow's stomach dropped into ice when the Flea said he'd heard the guys in suits coming back through a couple of dragonflies.

And the only superheroes he knew the phone number of to call for help were... The Earth Defense League. Where his parents 'worked'.

"I didn't think superheroes used cellphones."

"I didn't think they rode in buses, either, before today."

This was probably a bad idea...

Then again, it was probably one of his better ones as the two men in flying suits got smart by taking out one of the bus tires.